Will big business save the earth? Business sector has always been the key contributors to the environmental problems we all face nowadays.Will big business save the earth? Business sector has always been the key contributors to the environmental p

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Introduction

Will big business save the earth? Business sector has always been the key contributors to the environmental problems we all face nowadays. According to the United Nation Environment Programme, the environmental damage contributed by the world's 3000 biggest companies in total costs approximately US$2.2 trillion in 2008 - an amount larger to the national income of all but seven countries in the world that year, making the business sectors to be the most major contributor of the global environmental problem. The enormous greenhouse gas emitted that worsens the air quality and leads to the climate change, the oil spill that pollutes the water, the toxic waste that damages the natural environment, the overexploitation that breaks the balance of the eco-system... all these malpractices can be found in the big businesses and there is no doubt that these big businesses do have a great impact on the environmental issues. If these big companies and factories keep acting destructively to the environment solely for their economic interest, the worldwide environmental degradation will definitely get worsen and speed up the killing of the Earth; on the other hand, if they are conscious to stop their environmentally detrimental doing but responsibly take the lead to remedy the situation, they will definitely help save the Earth. However, when considering whether the big businesses will be the killers or the saviours of the earth, we should not only take the capability of these companies into account; we should also consider their attitude and behaviour towards the environmental issues, the factors that may affect their performance and if there are any other major contributors of the problem. ...read more.

Middle

The reason for the public to hardly do so is that the proportion of the public that pays attention to corporate social responsibility is still quite small. Basically, the public could simply choose not being the customers of the business and influence the economic benefit the business gets if they find that it performs badly. However, the proportion is so small that it could hardly bring the influence. A lot of people, especially those in developing countries, have little concepts about corporate social responsibilities. While people in developed countries may have more ideas about that, it does not mean that they are powerful and determined enough to make any effective move. Nestle will be an example used to explain it. Although Nestle has been criticized of its disappointing environmental performance over years and tons of international boycotting activities has been held to review the public opposition to them, the boycotting activities are obviously not strong enough to persuade Nestle to be environmental accountable as there is just a small proportion of public who cares about the company's social responsibility performance and join the boycotting activities. Now, while news regarding the company's environmental irresponsible activities still overwhelms, Nestle is still one of the largest and most profitable food companies worldwide. This explains the problem of indifference of the general public over corporate social responsibility; because of this, it is hard to depend on the public's monitoring over the big businesses' environmental sustainability performance. ...read more.

Conclusion

Worse still, the monitor of watchdogs over these big businesses is not strong enough to control the business acting accordingly to meet the satisfying environmental standard. Not only does the proportion of public feeling concerned about the environmental performance of corporate is still too small to be influential, but also the big business has been green-wash themselves to avoid charges from the international interest groups and the local government. Apart from all these reasons, it is never possible for the big business to save the earth solely without the concerted effort from the communities and individuals who also contributes a lot in the environment degradation. Therefore, as what we can see in the moment, hardly will the big business save the Earth. Be that as it may, if the big business can collectively work with the watchdogs and other contributors of the environmental problem, there may still be a chance to save the earth. Education should be implemented around the world to teach the public about their role in monitoring the corporate performances and the importance of corporate social responsibility. More thorough guidelines and stricter regulations should be adopted by the international organizations and local governments so as to redress the green-washing practice and lessen all other malpractices regarding the environmental responsibility area. More importantly, big businesses should change their profit-driven attitude and start taking the long-term impact of environmental sustainability into account. They have to leadingly bear the environmental accountability so as to influence the small companies around the world; and together with the concerted effort with communities and individuals worldwide, there will still be chance to save our planet. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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